On Sunday, October 31st, the Fresco Dance Company, with artistic direction and choreography by Yoram Karmi, performed their newest and most critically acclaimed work, Particle Accelerator, at the Suzanne Dellal Center to a completely full house. All aspects of the performance were outstanding and made a lasting impression on the audience.

The theme of technology, acknowledged in the title, remained consistent throughout the work, which also explored human relationships and emotion. The use of the stage, particularly the stage elevator, created an industrial setting and contributed to a captivating duet dealing with the opposition between technology and the desire to feel human emotion. Throughout the piece, the use of simple daily actions contrasted the high-energy movement and provided insight into human tendencies and desires. For example, the piece began with a single dancer vacuuming the stage, embodying the frustration with run-down technology. Later, during a “lunch break” in the middle of the work, the dancer amplified the feeling of loneliness by attempting to converse with a dummy. The contrast between moments of human emotions embodied in beautifully choreographed duets and solos versus the uniformity and precise movement of the entire group helped to develop an engaging and thoughtful theme.

Also exceptional in the performance was the intricate movement vocabulary executed with precise technique by the dancers. With a few new cast members since the premiere of the work, including dancers Britian Jackson and Sela Freed, the company worked together in skillful unison and generated an exciting energy easily shared with the audience. The movement incorporated challenging ballet vocabulary mixed with original and detailed choreography, creating a delightful and captivating performance.

Upcoming Performances

The Fresco Dance Company will be performing Particle Accelerator again at the Suzanne Dellal Center on December 11th at 11:00 a.m. as a part of the International Exposure festival. Tickets can be purchased at the box office: 03-5105656.

There will also be another performance on December 22nd at the Holon Theatre at 8:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the box office: 03-5023001.

About the Author

Lindsay Reich was born and raised in Wilmette, Illinois in the northern suburbs of Chicago. She spent her childhood studying dance at Fisher Dance Center in ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, hip hop and tap. She continued her study of dance and environmental studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she began choreographing and developing many projects. Since arriving in Israel after graduation, she has held contact improvisation workshops at Kfar Sagol Eco-Village and will be teaching dance classes at the Ariel School in Hod HaSharon. The Ariel School offers classes in all forms of artistic expression, please call for more information: 09-7604567 or 052-6554629.

The choreographers of the Amuta in Jaffa for the Home Port Festival. Photo by Dorit Talpaz.

The first hint that something big was happening in Israel’s concert dance scene was an e-mail from Yossi Berg and Oded Graf about their upcoming performance schedule. One listing mysteriously said that the duo was presenting Heroes at the Jaffa port for a choreographers festival. Choreographers festival? In Jaffa? Many dance festivals here are annual ones, and I didn’t remember anything like that from last year.

Next I started to see some Facebook events popping up, with choreographers including Hillel Kogan, Noa Dar, Shlomit Fundaminsky, and Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor inviting friends to attend performances at the port during March. My curiosity grew as the number of choreographers involved increased.

Finally, Yasmeen Godder pulled me over before class one day and told me I should look into a very exciting, unprecedented event: the Home Port festival. As I talked more with her and followed a few leads, I found out that this was, indeed, something big.

The Home Port festival was initiated by the Amuta (which translates as the Choreographers Association or the Choreographers Society), an umbrella organization for fifty-four independent choreographers who draw from styles as varied as contemporary dance, flamenco, and belly dance. Working outside of the country’s larger companies, these established choreographers are responsible for much of Israel’s flourishing concert dance scene – and all of them will present their creations in thirty-three different concerts over the next four weeks in a hangar at Jaffa’s port.

There is no rest for the weary. In Israel, Saturday is Shabbat, the day of rest – but International Exposure is not letting us sleep in this morning. The schedule looks good, though, so I’m not too upset!

Today we start at 11:00 a.m. with Vertigo Dance Company in Noa Wertheim’s full-length White Noise. Then we’ll leave Suzanne Dellal and head across Tel Aviv to Tmuna Theater. At this smaller space, we’ll see part of Tamar Borer’s butoh-influenced Bardo as well as Noa Shadur’s Hunting Rabbits in the North.

After a reception in the evening, we finish our day with a mixed bill: Rina Schenfeld’s Dance Me to the End of Love; Tirza Sapir’s High Tide, Low Tide (performed by Rikudnetto/DanceNet Group); Idan Cohen’s Joy Ride; and excerpts from Yoram Karmi’s Pulcinella (performed by the Fresco Dance Company).